


Holding On

by bar2d2s



Category: The Flash (Comics)
Genre: DARE officer AU, M/M, abuse mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 08:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3929719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there was one thing Hartley prided himself on, it was taking good things away from failed relationships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding On

If there was one thing Hartley prided himself on, it was taking good things away from failed relationships.

One of his earliest boyfriends had taught him how to play the flute. Connor the Buddhist had taught him how to meditate. James the architect had shown him how to identify the  _truly_  old buildings, and the ones that merely  _looked_  old. Earl, for better or for worse, had taught him how to take a punch. He’d taught  _himself_  how to blend makeup well enough to disguise bruises as sleep bags. Yes sir, Hartley Rathaway was a man of many tastes and talents, yet all of the former seemed to land themselves quite solidly in the  _bad_  category. In all his years of dating, there hadn’t been one single guy he could see himself bringing home to meet his…sister.

Which lead to Officer Jesse.

He certainly seemed to go down the checklist of all the things Hart was attracted to; fairly tall, without towering. Blonde hair. Fit body. Fun sense of humor  _just_  this side of hopelessly irritating. He had a job, and would probably have opportunities to advance in it once he stopped lurking around the high school with his scary senior officer, even though they both seemed to enjoy interacting with the kids on a daily basis. He was the full package, a perfect catch.

And that terrified him.

Hartley wasn’t a clinger. It sort of came with the territory of being the oldest son of wealthy parents who spent more time ignoring their children than interacting with them. In relationships, he doled out his affections sparingly, whenever his partner seemed to need them, instead of when his partner demanded them. That alone was the direct cause of at  _least_  half of his boyfriends getting fed up with him and leaving. But Officer Jesse, James, he wasn’t like that.

He was a little clingy, sure. But it wasn’t in a bad way? James bought them lunch from off-campus every payday, and always made sure to bring a package of those seasoned seaweed strips Hart was so addicted to every other day. He’d helped him rearrange the chairs in the practice room, and the desks in the music theory classroom whenever he needed an extra hand. Even when he wasn’t attempting to be physical, James was always  _there_. And when he  _was_  attempting to be physical…

Hartley wore a wool cap in the middle of August after James sucked the very crest of the shell of his ear hard enough to leave a big bruise. He found himself making excuses to have open-air practices on Fridays, when James did a routine wash down and lubing of his bicycle in just his uniform pants and a tank top, just off the side of the school’s main quad. Once, while grading essays on composers of the nineteenth century, Hart hadn’t realized that he’d been sucking on the cap of his pen until James had ripped it from his hand, tossed it across the room, climbed into his recliner with him and…

James was wonderful. Amazing, even. He was kind, he was funny, he was exciting. And he made Hartley  _want_  to cling to him, to show him the kind of affection he’d been keeping to himself all this time.

Which was the main reason Hart was so scared, after all. Because maybe, just maybe, that’s what he was learning from James. 

He was learning to open his heart, so that it could finally get broken.


End file.
